Whether you’re a recruiter or a recruitment software provider, business development involves a lot of cold calls to prospective clients. You know your recruitment services are second to none, but if you’re blocked by gatekeepers or speaking with the wrong people it can be tough to stay motivated. Shane Wheeler, Marketing Communications Executive, Adapt, shares five tips from our Business Development (BD) team to help you warm-up those cold calls and reach more decision makers…

1. BIG call target? Break it down

Starting the day with lots of calls ahead of you can be daunting, but breaking them down by time slots can help. If you have fifty calls to make, aim to have half done by lunchtime and set yourself mini-goals along the way like ‘Ten more calls by 3pm’ or ‘Five more calls and I’ll have coffee and biscuits’. It’s fun to come up with new challenges to avoid feeling like you’re only ticking-off calls one at a time. – Nouri Saoudi, BD Manager

2. Call like you’ve never called before

Your CRM will most-likely store an abundance of notes regarding previous business development calls to prospects. This information is invaluable in many ways of course, but when working through a long list of calls, it might not be necessary to read too much of it. It might even work better to read very little and ‘go in cold’. If it dampens your spirits to read several notes about brief exchanges with gatekeepers, avoid reading them and call like you’ve never called before…literally and figuratively. – Nouri Saoudi, BD Manager

3. Take it with a pinch of salt

Gatekeepers, from receptionists to team members, may say they’re not interested (often sounding like they’re speaking on behalf of the company), but they’re not the ones making the decision. There are numerous stories where one contact at a company showed little interest, only for their colleague to progress things the very next time a Business Developer called. So, find out who the decision maker is and only take their word for the state of play – take everyone else’s with a pinch of salt. – Paul Sandford, BD Manager

4. It’s not personal

It can be difficult, especially if you’re professional and diligent in your approach, not to take a tetchy rebuttal personally – but it isn’t personal. You have no idea what the person taking your call is dealing with at that moment. From problems at work to problems at home, they’re just as human as you and if one of those problems was enough to put them in a bad mood, they won’t think twice before curtly dismissing your call. Next time, it’ll probably be ‘night and day’, so keep your cool and don’t overthink these things…especially if doing so negatively affects your own performance. – Paul Sandford, BD Manager

5. Take note!

Once you’re through to the decision maker, breathe, listen and take notes. If you’re asked a question and you don’t know the answer, find out, get back to that contact, then make a note so you have the answer next time. If you ask a prospect a question and notice it piques their interest, make a note and remember to keep asking that question during future calls. If you’re often hearing similar objections, make notes and be more prepared to overcome them next time. Make lots of notes, refer to them often, measure your success and turn hindsight into foresight. – Paul Sandford, BD Manager

Our Business Developers love to talk about your business – call them on 01903 707070.